Blue Beard Today’s Tale

Animation-Performance Canada 2016 English/sous titres français English Version Available 0:17:49

I use characters and events of the poetic film to reflect on the dictators’ behaviours towards the nation when they are rejected: 1) A deep reflection on a French literary folktale, Bluebeard, a powerful man who kills the curious women who do the forbidden. 2) A poetic performance of a mother and her child found alive under a destroyed building. The female in this video is as symbol for the nation. When the revolution took place it started with peaceful protesters; the regime’s response was extremely violent.

Khadija Baker is a Montreal-based, multi-disciplinary artist of Kurdish-Syrian descent. Her installations investigate social and political themes centered on the uncertainty of home as it relates to persecution, identity, displacement, and memory. As a witness to traumatic events, unsettled feelings of home are a part of her experience. Her multi-disciplinary installations (textile, sculpture, audio/video) involve participative storytelling and performance to create active spaces of empathy and greater understanding. Her most recent work explores the social aspects of violence in the Arab world and specifically how it affects women and children. You can see examples of her work at khadijabaker.info